Study
The octopus genome and the evolution of cephalopod neural and morphological novelties
Albertin, Caroline B.; Simakov, Oleg; Mitros, Therese; Ragsdale, Clifton W.; Rokhsar, Daniel S.
Nature, 2015
The first full octopus genome was sequenced and compared with other invertebrate genomes, with particular attention to gene families associated with neural development.
- Studied in
- Octopus bimaculoides
- Sample size
- 1 sequenced reference genome
The genome contains a large expansion of protocadherin genes — cell-adhesion molecules involved in wiring nervous systems — on a scale otherwise seen mainly in vertebrates, plus extensive gene rearrangement.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Cephalopod neural complexity arose through independent expansion of gene families rather than by whole-genome duplication.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is the genetic underpinning of everything else on this page. A complex nervous system evolved twice, by different routes, in lineages separated by more than half a billion years. It is also the antidote to describing octopuses as "aliens": they are a second, independent solution to the same problem, which is more interesting than a metaphor.
- One species; cephalopod genomes vary.
- Gene family expansion is an association with neural complexity, not a demonstrated cause.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
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Published by: Nature PortfolioPublished in a Nature Portfolio journal.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.